Yes… you read that right. We’re almost home. Oh, not for good yet – the Lord’s not done with us here in Châtellerault – but we will be home for a short stint – we fly out Wednesday.

You could be forgiven for thinking that we’re trying to escape the heat, but that’s not the reason for our travel home…

(notice that the 33 degrees was at 7:52 pm… PLEASE… I thought the heat wave was supposed to be over!)

We’re crossing the ocean to attend my mom’s wedding. It’s been 8 years since my dad passed away and now she’s met someone who makes her feel like a kid again. I’ll share a pic or two after the wedding.

… for now, onto this week’s post.

End of School

Here we see the various stages of being done school.

The middle photo shows Sophie in the final throws of studying for her oral French presentation: She had to prepare analyses, author information, style commentary and time period for some 30 pieces of literature & she’d be asked – at random – to present one for 10 minutes and answer questions for another 10. Dominic was not in a literary program so he only had to prepare 14… still…

The top photo shows the boys carrying on in the car while waiting for Soph to finish. You can probably tell that they’d both already finished their school year by that point.

To celebrate the end of the school year, the kids all invited some friends over for the afternoon, for supper and for a bonfire on Thursday night. Some had never had the pleasure of roasting marshmallows and eating smores until that night. They were a hit!

My Birthday

Tuesday was my birthday and to celebrate, Liz & I visited Villandry Castle, about an hour from here. (Thank you Bonnie & Marilyne!)

The castle itself is relatively small, but Villandry is even more well-known for its gardens.

Here you can see the formal topiary and clipped boxwood garden, but to the left of this area is a patchwork quilt of vegetable gardens… laid out in formally structured geometric squares, the plants of which are all color coordinated.

We got there just as they finished doing the summer planting, so the various colour schemes were not evident, but the overall structure was…. Just incredible!

Beliefs & Artwork

The castle itself housed an art collection, many of the paintings of which were of a religious nature.

Photo 1 shows a depiction of Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit together to crown Mary.

Photo 2 is a symbolic representation of the marriage between Christ (the tiny lamb at the foot of the flag) and the church (the woman on the right, looking adoringly at the lamb). Looking over the “wedding” is Mary and a young John the Baptist.

I often wonder, when looking at what is, without question, extraordinary art. “Yes…” the angel clearly told Mary that she was highly favoured among women. To have her crowned by God, however, and overseeing the marriage of Christ and his bride is to take the primary focus off of Jesus and put it elsewhere…

Jesus, God in the Flesh… Emanuel, God with is, is the one who should capture the entirety of our attention. It is he who is crowned with glory and honour (Hebrews 2.9, Psalm 8.5-6).

Prayer Changes Things

If you think that this photo looks familiar, you’d be right. I shared it in discussing Day 2 with the AYC group. I wanted to bring it back though, to give glory to God for things that have happened this week, since their passage through Châtellerault.

Wednesday: While purchasing travel insurance for our trip home, the insurance agent spent quite a bit of time asking about God, the Bible & our church. There may be a home Bible study there.

Thursday: We had unexpected company show up & stay for nearly two hours… asking questions about God and about the fact that our kids were so nice and were following in our walk of faith.

Friday: One of our church members asked if they could come to the church to pray & fast for the afternoon.

Folks… That’s a change for Châtellerault. Three days in a row… threen spiritually charged events. Something’s happening in the Spirit.

You’re Part of That…

Because you are partnering with us financially and in prayer, you too are part of what God is doing in this city.

Thank you!

Please keep us in prayer on Tuesday & Wednesday when we’ll be travelling (first to Moncton, then Saint John toward the end of the month… more on that later).